Climate Change and Amphibians

Amphibians Matter Amphibians are an important component of the global ecosystem. In New York State, the biomass of one diminutive salamander species alone is equal to that of all the white-tailed deer. If you think that is impressive, that same salamander species in Virginia has a biomass 7x as great, another salamander species in Japan has a biomass 50x as great, and a frog species in Puerto Rico has a biomass 150x as great. For those of us living in white-tailed deer country, try to imagine 150x as many deer running around and you will start to have some comprehension of the keystone role just one single amphibian species can have in its ecosystem. All of those amphibians can serve as food for predators in their community, and current research is documenting that in areas of the world where amphibians are disappearing, so too are their specialist predators (Karen Lips, pers. com.). Amphibians are also voracious predators themselves, with a single population of cricket frogs, for example, able to consume 5 million invertebrates in one year (Bruce and Christiansen 1976). Many of those invertebrates are pests of our crops and vectors of human disease. Clearly, amphibians play a vital role in nature.